


Biohazard Lotus

by Juno_Naut



Category: Biohazard Lotus
Genre: Abduction, Aliens, Angst, Biohazard, Captivity, Family Issues, Gen, Mystery, Other, Personal Growth, Science Fiction, Secrets, Warning: gore and lore
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-04-28
Updated: 2018-09-03
Packaged: 2019-04-29 06:27:37
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 9
Words: 16,007
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14466936
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Juno_Naut/pseuds/Juno_Naut
Summary: Her life was simple before. Eat, play, and sleep. Her parents argued quite a bit, but it was okay. She had one mother, one father, and one dog. Her own beloved Tibetan Mastiff. She never paid much to her parents as they never did to her. Until one day, one uneasy day, when she chimed in during one of their arguments right in front of her, and not liking her opinion, they pushed her outside to "play." And play, she did. She frolicked around with childlike wonder and curiosity. That is, until she stumbled upon an unusual woman, or creature, that called itself "Delta". She was unpredictable. Especially when she suddenly abducted her. Snatched her. Stole her life away from her. So soon, she became an experiment. A lab rat. Where she was tossed into chambers, and given cruel experiments, surgeries, tests, and injections. Not just by Delta but also her underlings. Aoki never wanted this, but she got it nonetheless. With painful resurrection, and limitless necromancy. This was known as her new life. So, would you save her? Meet Aoki Juno.





	1. Smell of familiarity

**Author's Note:**

  * For [All Aoki fans and supporters!](https://archiveofourown.org/gifts?recipient=All+Aoki+fans+and+supporters%21).



**“Don`t forget to set the timer for the oven!”**

Aoki kicked her feet in her chair as the familiar voice of her mother rang out from the living room. Bartholomew sniffed at her knees and sneezed on them with a heavy ‘smuk’! 

“I got it! I know what to do!” Her father`s voice rang back in an irritated tone as Aoki watched him hunch over the stovetop and huff, reaching for their old chicken-egg style timer and turn the top to the correct time before slamming it down and brushing his hair back. 

“Ew.” She muttered at her large dog who hunkered down at the base of her chair lazily. She wiped her knee with her hand and snickered. “Gross doggy.” She nudged his large and furry stomach with her tiny foot.

“Go wash your hand, it's infected by that damn things mucus.” Her father rolled his eyes and walked back to the living room. Aoki stood up and huffed at him, before tottering to the nearest bathroom. Her dog, Bartholomew, followed her, sniffing at her bum before she swatted his snout away with her uninfected hand. She arrived and reached up for the high sink handle, which was raised too high for her height.

“No reach!” She whined and stretched her tiny fingertips yet still could not reach. 

Bartholomew let out a low woof and bent his head between her legs, before boosting her up as she sat on his back and wiggled her legs, giggling. “Thank you.”

She washed her hands and dried them before sliding off his back as he dropped her and she tottered back to her seat at the dinner table, waiting patiently.

“Night food!” She whined out after another 10 minutes of sitting at the table and pushed her long auburn hair over her shoulder. Soon enough, the timer went off, ringing out a long and loud monotone blare. She heard the heavy footsteps of both her mother and father. She watched as her mother strode into the kitchen, grabbing the timer and switching it off. 

Aoki looked like a strong mix of her mother and father, but more of her mother. With her mother`s sweet and dark auburn colored hair that reached just above her shoulders, and cutting eyes; the flickering green glow in her eyes were from her father. Freckles lightly splattered across Aoki`s button nose and just below her eyes. 

Her father grumbled heavily and took his place at the table, “Be patient or you will have no dinner, period.” He never bothered to look at her as he glanced from the kitchen to the television visible from the table in their humble dining room. The way he emphasized the word dinner made Aoki feel the need to repeat herself.

“Night food.” She whispered, tossing her small fork between her fingers and focusing on the tablecloth. 

“Grow up! It's called- you know what I'm not going to argue with a child.” Her father rubbed his temples and rolled his shoulders.

“For god's sake, she`s four! Leave her be!” Her mother came over to the table with a plate of sliced apples, mashed sweet potatoes, and light turkey, setting it down in front of Aoki. “Thank you.” Aoki smiled wearily and poked at her sweet potatoes, before stuffing her mouth, using a compact fork with a vibrant design. She`d contemplated putting earplugs to block sound in before dinner but was far too hungry to do so. She absolutely hated the sound of the smacking and sloshing of people eating, it set her into either pure rage or terror. 

“Well she should at least mature a little.” He grumbled before his wife slapped him over the head, causing Aoki to look up at them and raise a thin brow. “Watch yourself.” She hissed and he glared at her out of the corner of his eye. She set his plate down in front of him which consisted of more turkey, peas, regular mashed potatoes, and baked fish. He quickly chowed down, and Aoki nearly instantly regretted not having in earplugs. 

“Oh, way to not wait for me to sit down before we begin eating.” Her mother spat as she sat down, her light wavy hair bouncing.

“I didn't realize it was a tradition.” Her father spat back, rolling his eyes and eyeing her. Her plate consisted of the same as his, just a slightly smaller portion. 

Her mother shook off his comment and whispered, “I`ve been considering registering Aoki for child therapists.” 

“Eh, at least you agree she's not normal.” He said, carelessly and loudly. Aoki may have been young, but it didn`t mean she did not understand some words, and his certainly stung. “Quite the loner.” Her mother whispered back, as if Aoki couldn't hear what they were discussing.

Bartholomew nudged her foot, snapping her away from their conversation. His big beady and warm eyes begged for a piece of turkey. She carefully swiped some off her plate and tossed it down to him. He quickly caught it and grunted, easily swallowing it without chewing. However, Aoki was not sneaky enough.

“Look she's wasting food now!” Her father huffed heavily. “I'm the one who works!” Her mother quickly replied, but her father was quicker.

“You're not the only one who works!” He stared at her mother with cutting eyes, stuffing his mouth obnoxiously. 

“But guess who makes more money.” She jabbed at her peas and sighed.  
Bartholomew begged for more but Aoki shook her head. “Mm mm.” She smiled at him and booped his nose, causing him to lick her finger. She sighed, “Gross doggy.” She muttered and peered down at him teasingly, “My doggy.” 

She finished her food and yawned, “Excuse me.” She blinked slowly and slipped off her chair, heading to and up the creaky wooden stairs to her room. When she arrived she nearly collapsed onto her bed. Carefully and quietly, she tossed some pillows onto the floor, and organized a fort with blankets. Bartholomew accompanied her and bumped her back multiple times. “No Bartho.” She whispered, “No bumpy.” 

She toppled into her fort and smiled tiredly. Bartholomew hunkered down next to her as she stroked his dark brown silky fur. Bartholomew was a deep colored Tibetan mastiff with odd tannish-brown splotches along his large snout, legs, and paws. He was very fluffy and beefy, with a wild black mane, but mostly, he was loving. Considering himself a lap dog, he rested his body on Aoki`s stomach and she grunted in reply. 

“You're heavy!” She whined, but he yawned back and swished his poofy tail. 

Soon enough, she heard the unintelligible arguing of her parents downstairs, but this had become like white-noise to her. And so she slowly began to blink, drifting away into an entirely different reality. Snuggled up in the warmth of her dog, and in her pillow fort, she fell asleep. 

Too bad her dog was a slightly loud snorer.


	2. Stranger Danger

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Always be wary of stranger dangers. Especially when lost in the forest after being pushed outside to play. They're always watching, Aoki.

**Morning greeted her with bright rays of sunlight sneaking their ways in through her half open curtains**.

Her eyes fluttered open and she squinted. Something tickled her nose, causing her to go into a light sneezing fit. She blessed herself, and oddly thanked herself.

Bartholomew grunted and stood up, getting off of Aoki`s frail body and bounding for her tall door, scratching at it.

She sat up and rubbed her eyes, flicking away the evidence of her slumber. She stretched her legs out in front of her, then her back and arms. She remained silent as she went to her window and pushed open the curtains. The sky was dotted with plenty of massive clouds, and the trees were bending to and fro. All in all it was just another cloudy day with wind.

She hummed to herself in her light-childish voice before stumbling over to Bartholomew and her door, pulling it open. She held onto Bartholomew and the railing as she went down the old creaky stairs. To her dismay, her parents were already awake.

Bartholomew ran to his food bowl, leaving Aoki behind and getting his bland breakfast. Aoki looked around and sure enough, her father was on the couch watching tv. She tilted her head. Where was her mother?

She tottered into the dining room, her mother seated at one of the large chairs, doing a jigsaw puzzle. She appeared oddly ecstatic doing it, which Aoki didn't quite know at the time, but was one of her mother's manic phases.

“Morning food?” Aoki whispered and tottered over to her mother, tugging on the long magenta colored silk skirt that drooped down to below her kneecaps.

“Morning food?” She repeated in a squeaky voice. Her mother huffed and pushed Aoki`s tiny hands off of her skirt, “Can't you see I'm busy Aoki? I'm doing a puzzle, one-thousand pieces!” She exclaimed excitedly. “If you’re hungry go make some cereal or something.”

Her eyes were glued onto the puzzle as she clapped her hands excitedly. She spoke so fast it took Aoki a few moments to register what she had said.

“Have you forgot her _age_?” Her father grumbled, walking briskly into the room and grabbing a canned beer from the fridge. “You and your puzzles..” His voice trailed off as he eyed her.

“Oh leave me be!” She hissed at him and put a few more pieces together in her puzzle, clapping her hands again, softly. An hour later Aoki finally got them to pour her some cereal, she sat down in her seat at the table and quickly ate them, begging for more.

After another long wait, her mother got her some more.

She kicked her feet playfully as her dog companion rested himself at the base of her chair. Her mother across from her, with a large half done jigsaw puzzle.

Later, after breakfast, Aoki took a bath, herself. Her mother had turned on the tub spout and filled the bathtub with warm water for Aoki, bouncing her left leg while watching the tub fill up. She then proceeded to get baby wash, which Aoki called “water soap”, shampoo, and conditioner. Setting them out for Aoki, her mother then ran back to her puzzle. All three were small, light bottles. Sadly, it wasn’t a bubble bath, but it was still nice!

Bartholomew sat outside the tub, near the sink, yawning and grunting before laying down. The sweet scent of lavender-raspberries filled the room as she tried to keep the shampoo from her eyes, pouting and making unusual expressions. She dipped her head in the water, which wasn't very high, and closed her eyes before raising her head out of the water and huffing. Aoki enjoyed the simulation of being underwater voluntarily. Bartholomew, however, did not like to see her do so. She eventually finished about twenty seven minutes later and stumbled over to her closet. Luckily, her mother had set out what she was going to wear that day. Pretty cheap of her to set out her clothes but not bathe her own _child_. It was a creme shirt and a black cotton skirt that went to her knees, along with the side of a black cotton sweater that had one white stripe at the top, then a green stripe just below the white stripe. Her underwear was placed aside the clothes as well.

She slipped carefully into her clothes, trying not to trip before putting on a pair of knee high black colored socks, and creme colored dolly shoes.

Fluffing her wavy hair that curled up at the ends just below her shoulders, Aoki stumbled out of her room and down the stairs. Bartholomew following at her side. She was just in time to catch her parents arguing again.

“No! You're crazy! This is crazy!” Her father shouted to her mother and she stuck her tongue out at him.

“I just have energy you twat!” She pouted and flipped him off, but quickly put her hand back in her lap when she spotted Aoki. Aoki watched her and her lips curved into a frown.

Her father glanced at Aoki and furrowed his brows before his eyes went wide, “You couldn't even bathe her?” He hissed at her mother, noticing Aoki was bathed and fully clothed. Bartholomew licked Aoki's hand and she shivered. “Fine.” She whispered.

“No no no, it's not fine. No.” He huffed and wagged a finger at Aoki.

“You could have bathed her!” Her mother fired back.

“I was busy!”

“What? Sipping a beer? Watching the news so you can stay _wary_?” She dramatically added.

“You don't know the danger!” He began to shout at her and I flinched knowing this couldn't possibly end in any good way. I began to drift into the fantasy of my mind to escape but the tension wouldn't allow such activities.

“What danger? For Christ's sake were _fine_!” She shouted back and spat at him.

He glared at her and shook his head, “You don't know that! You just sit in here and do puzzles with your stupid mania!”

She glared right back at him but didn't respond immediately.

“Please just stop...fighting…” Aoki finally spoke up.

**Bad idea.**

They both turned their vicious eyes to me and I shivered once again. “You don't need to get involved in this. You're just a child.” My mother cut her eyes at me and grabbed my wrist. She pulled my to the front door and lightly pushed me outside, “Go play.” She jeered before putting the screen door up, and leaving the front door open.

Sadly, Bartholomew was still inside.

He whimpered at my parents as they continued their argument in the kitchen, which I could barely see. I shrugged and stomped around.

It rained early this morning so now there were puddles as residue. I continued playing in the puddles for the next ten minutes before spotting a loose chicken. It made the typical ‘boc boc boc’ noise, which I found funny and giggled. I took a few careful steps towards it and it shifted its tiny head with beady eyes toward me. I took a few more steps, my shoes making a sopping noise.

That was it, the chicken took off, and I chased it. It ran into the line of trees and I trailed close behind. It was so quick. I had almost caught it but it disappeared deeper into the forest.

“Umph!” I grunted and my frail legs felt weak. I didn't have enough energy to pursue it and stopped in my tracks.

I panted and looked around. How did I get so lost. I began to hyperventilate, breathing harsher and rougher.

“M…mummy?” I whimpered out, I meant to yell it but was too scared, I lost my voice.

“ _Mummy!!_ ” I shouted this time, my voice weak and shaky.

“ _Muma_!” I screamed and looked around. I turned around in circles, looking for something to get back.

But just then I saw two people.

No three, a woman was behind them. A tall woman as well. The two in front had weapons I didn't know what they were at the time, but they turned out to be avant-garde type of spears.

They both noticed me and raised their weapons, eyeing me. They looked incredibly tense and odd. They were wearing dark cloaks to mask their bodies, with their loose hoods over their heads. I could not see their faces, but if I could I'd imagine they would be the most scary thing possible.

They were tall as well, but not as tall as the woman.

“Mummy.” I whispered again.

They grew more tense, but the woman behind them raised her hand and whispered a deep and unusual “ **No.** ” Just like that they lowered their weapons and I began to walk towards them.

I was shaking, I was terrified. Deep in the forest with these creatures wasn't where I wanted to be! Especially for my age!

I was a few feet away from them when the woman raised her hand again, and I stopped. She raised her head to me, revealing her deep, intense golden eyes, and jet black wavy hair.

_She looked like a goddess._

“ **Are you lost?** ” She tilted her head.

 

**I was more than lost now.**


	3. Hazard Zone

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> The little lotus Aoki, says goodbye to the world she knew as she's soon to be thrown into another full of predicaments. So we wave her off, but for good? All we know is that she's always watching.

_**I gulped and began to pick at my nails, which was unusual. I don’t do this quite often, but something about this woman...or creature made me feel uneasy.** _

“ **Are you lost?** ” She repeated and continued to stare at me with her piercing golden eyes.

“I-I am..” I looked around the forest, in which tall trees stood and rays of sunlight flew through the trees.

“ **How unfortunate.** ” She still stared at me, making me shudder. “ **Where are your parents?** ” She finally looked away and up to the trees, with leaves occasionally disconnecting and slowly making their way to the forest floor.

“Home…” I looked at her appearance and tilted me head.

“ **Do they treat you well?** ” She suddenly asked after moments of silent waiting.

“They...try.” I sat down on the forest floor, not minding if I get my skirt dirty.

“ **And you respect them?** ” Her voice had grown dark, she was once again staring at me.

“Y-yes.” I looked up to shoot an immature glare, only to find she was standing closer to me. I slowly inched away carefully and tried to act like I did not notice.

“ **What is it like at your home?** ” She let her dark, smooth hair droop partially in front of her face and sat down with a loud thump.

“Mummy and dadsy argue a b-bunch, so I can’t butt in.” I flinched from my stuttering and sighed lightly. It made me feel weaker for some unknown reason. She eyed me and nodded as if she were a therapist. I began to play with my curly ends and nervously nibbled my right thumb. I never sucked it, just nibbled the fingertip.

As soon as I had begun to do this, I could have sworn I heard the woman grunt an angry grunt. . “ **You know, I am happy to have met you. What is your name?** ” She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear.

“Aoki.” looking around for a distraction from this uneasy stranger, I noticed the two others she came here with had disappeared.

“ **Ah, I see. You can call me Delta.** ” She smiled wickedly and observed me closely, making me more uncomfortable. Her hair fell back into her face as she became serious suddenly, and I felt the tension thicken as she practically loomed over me.

Goddess? More like baba yaga

“ **Where is your home?** ” She spoke with more edge, and the way she said home made it seem hard for her to say.

“D-Don’t know…” I mumbled and shrugged.

“ **Lastly, what is your last name?** ”

“Lastly?” I tilted my head and my nose twitched.

“ **Answer the question Aoki.** ” Her voice was poisonous, dripping with hate.

“Juno…” I shivered and frowned, feeling deep unpredictable guilt and paranoia as I stared into her hungry eyes.

Her eyes seemed too excited after I told her.

“ **I know.** ” Suddenly she snatched my arm, holding me in place while the two guards she had with her reappeared behind me. One gripped my shoulders tightly while the other stood in front of me holding his spear, being wary of my next actions. I cried out in surprise and terror as I shook my head violently, “No!” I screamed out and continued to shake my head.

“ **Hush.** ” Delta whispered to me, but that did not stop me from letting out childish whines of madness. This clearly terrified me, was I supposed to be okay with this? I do not think so.

I suddenly let out an ear piercing, blood curdling scream that echoed throughout the tall trees.

~

Meanwhile in the kitchen, after settling down from vicious yelling, he grabbed an apple to slice for me when I was let back inside, father looked up in confusion. “Did you hear that?” He turned to mother, as she was still at the table doing another puzzle. She looked up and tilted her head. “No?”

“It sounded like a scream.” He set the green apple down on a napkin. Bartholomew picked his head up, as he was sitting beside the door for me. He immediately stood up and began howling, scratching at the door.

“I'm gonna go check on Aoki.” He said in an uneasy tone, and mother nodded, waving him off. He made his way over to the screen door in his heavy boots and opened it, Bartholomew raced out before he could. Confirming his uneasiness. He looked around for a while, but I was clearly not in the front yard of the nice cabin.

“AOKI?” shouted for me, but there was no reply.

Suddenly he was greeted by another one of my screams and snapped his head in the direction of me. My mother stepped outside, in no hurry. “What is that?” She frowned and put her hands on her hips.

“Aoki, that foolish girl.” He cursed and ran towards the direction of me.

~

I was struggling in their grip as Delta watched with evil eyes.

They clearly were going to overpower me, I am completely defenseless.

“ **Just do it quickly.** ” Delta hissed.

I felt the hot tears stream down my dampened face as I continued to scream.

I suddenly heard shuffling coming from my right as we all snapped our heads to the direction of the sound. My father was racing towards us with an extended hand as he yelled out inappropriate words.

“Мой ребенок! _"_  He screamed, and I could have sworn I saw his eyes tear up and reach for me, although he still had a while to get to me.

 _“Dadd-”_ Before I could finish my cry for help, the loud echo of a shotgun was heard, and my father crumbled to the floor.

Dead.

I choked on my words after that as I saw my mother screaming and Bartholomew guarding her, keeping her away from this danger after seeing my father get shot.

He seemed much bigger in action, much more heroic.

The trees, the suns rays, the falling leaves, and this catastrophe was the last scenery I saw before I was painfully knocked unconscious, screaming.

_**Oh no...** _


	4. To The New Life

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> So it begins.

_**Life is not going to be the same.** _

Besides “am I going to die”, this seemed to repeat in my tiny head.

My frail body had woken up on a slightly uncomfortable bed. It was dimly lit in the room I was in, but I was able to see the scratches on my arms and legs. One small one across my tummy too. I sat up and looked around, before cautiously tossing my legs over the side of the bed.

My room was basic, filled with things meant only to suit my needs. Not wants. There was a toilet in the right corner of the room, along the same wall my bed was on. There was a line that glowed green above it, and what I hoped was fresh toilet paper beside it.

My bed was attached to the wall and was a few feet off the ground. It had a simple white pillow and mattress, with a light, grey, blanket.

There was a door across the room, right across from my bed. It had three thin stripes that glowed a deep ominous red. A warning type of red. There was no handle or window upon further inspection when I went over.

Right beside the door was what seemed like a small hatch, not connected to the floor but a few feet off the ground in the wall. I didn't know the use for it at the time.

I missed my momsy. I felt tears well up in my eyes and didn't bother to hold them back. I sniffled in the dim room and rubbed my eyes with both hands.

“Mommy. . .” I began to weep with fear and nostalgia.

“Daddy. . .” I whimpered out in a weak voice. A pleading voice. But deep inside I knew neither would show up for me. Including that one was dead. . .and I watched him die.

I don't understand, is this my fault? Why was I so brutally taken by. . .that woman?

Suddenly the three thin stripes glowed green. I perked up and watched as the door opened from the bottom, upwards. Two creatures stepped in, but they weren't dressed like the guards I had seen with Delta. They wore dresses. Formal dresses, made from silk. Long, droopy, and navy blue with black. They had a symbol of a blazing sun burned onto each of their foreheads. Their hair were the same color: jet black, and were tied into buns. Their faces were ominous and barely visible in the dark, yet I could see each of their four eyes. They looked rather funny, but in the scenario I was in, it was just plain scary.

They held small staffs that glowed on the handles and sparked at random; making their way towards me.

“Commencing controlled shock.” They both said.

I was too afraid to move, I felt paralyzed as they both swung down on my head and I screamed, falling off my bed and to the cold floor. I grunted multiple times and emitted noises that didn't sound human.

_My body felt like it had been set on fire._

They picked my up by my arms and dragged me, still grunting; out of my room and down an long odd hall.

The top corners of the hall had faint glowing light sources which glowed green, and appeared to lead us. They followed these lights until we reached a huge door. It towered over us, especially me, considering how short I am.

It terrified me.

Suddenly, an extremely loud noise blared throughout the hall and the door opened up from different directions, it seemed complicated.

The two tall women looked towards me with lowered heads and raised their futuristic spears. I shook my head furiously and began to cry loudly. I whimpered and sobbed, waving my hands as a sign of ‘no'. Yet, they showed no sympathy and shocked me once again.

My knees buckled and I would have fallen to the ground if they hadn't grabbed my sweater and thrown me into the dark room. I laid on the floor grunting and whimpering in extreme pain. I writhed and groaned, rolling onto my back and attempting to wipe my tears away with my dark sweater sleeve.

I finally gathered the strength to stand on my wobbly legs. I made my way back to where the door was, holding my hands in front of me.

Walking felt like an eternity, I couldn't feel any surface as my hands grasped for anything. But I felt nothing. There was no door. I couldn't see or feel in here. And I was terrified.

_I wanted my doggy._

“Bartho...” I rubbed my eyes again, and felt my sleeves were already damp from my tears. I whimpered helplessly again and turned away from the direction I was walking in. I saw the room slowly grow from pitch black to dim. All around me, the room began to brighten.

“Beginning experiment C. Controlled shock sequence has been enabled.”

**A voice spoke!**

“Hello?!” I shouted, to anyone. Or anything.

“Your only objective, Aoki, is to survive and get out.” The voice spoke to me again and I wrinkled my nose, confused. “Wh-” I was cut off when I was shocked for the third time and collapsed again onto my stomach.

I noted that the room grew near blindingly bright, so I shut my eyes. More groaning and agony. It's like being tased but a....a bajillion times worse. When the pain faded, I pushed myself off the ground with my palms.

Was it okay with mommy if they did this to me?

I frowned and got up off my knees. I looked up, only to see a bright and cloudy sky.

_Was I finally free? What was going on?_

I heard aggravated hissing from behind and quickly turned around, half expecting a kitty or any other creature than the horrible possibility of what was really there.

But I was wrong.

Snakes. Dozens upon dozens of them. Hissing and slithering over each other.

I saw a few snakes eating their own kind, in corners. They flicked their tiny tongues at me and some raised their heads in alarm at my sudden entrance. My sudden threatening presence. My existence.

I gasped and looked for an exit, feeling my eyes heat up and become wet.

But there was no exit. I was in a pit. They wanted me to climb out but I just couldn't!

Sobbing, I clawed at the walls and begged for mercy to nobody. No One was coming to save me.

Just then I tripped over an irritated reptilian.

I yelped and landed in a pile of thick, hideous snakes.

**I was bound to die here.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank you for reading so far! If you are curious as to what Aoki may look like, or contact me in any other way, then you can always check out my Instagram.
> 
> Instagram: Mizz.Aoki


	5. Blink of an eye

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Life and death are serious things, unless you're Aoki, and you've been taken to a place like this. Then life and death are fictional...(?)

_**What happened after I tripped was practically in slow motion.** _

One after another, each snake had become extremely irritated. More than half of them raised their heads after I disturbed them and launched themselves at me. I heard them project terrifying noises and shrieked as I shielded my face with my arms. But deep inside I knew it was useless.

One snake I recognized as a boomslang, puffed up his neck and lunged right for my left leg. It, along with several other aggravated snakes, latched on with ease.

I let out an ear-splitting scream, the back of my throat burned harshly. I tried to yank my weak leg away, but it felt a lot more heavier than usual. I attempted to look down at my lower half, but felt like my neck was restrained.

These attacks continued as many more exotic and venomous snakes bit all over my body, dragging their heavy, _cold_ bodies over and under mine.

They wrapped around me and several more had bitten me all over. My stomach, both of my legs, nearly everywhere. My body swooped through multiple symptoms from the aggressive bites, my vision faded in and out, my entire body throbbed and tingled, my throat felt dry and closed, yet I felt majorly nauseous. I felt my jaw harden and grind as I attempted another scream.

I couldn't move.

**I'm dying.**

I was right. I was truly bound to die here.

I shouldn't have chimed in. I shouldn’t have followed that chicken. I should have listened! I shouldn’t have talked to that woman...what was her name? Delta? Well it didn't matter now.

As young as I am, I know this is death. Daddy described it to me when he got into a wrassle with a coyote that had a strange foam dripping from its furry lip. He had to get shots for some reason. I'm not sure why though, Bartholomew bit him all the time when they played, yet he never got shots.

Nonetheless, I'm terrified. I feel myself heating up, then feeling very cold. I’m too young to die, aren’t I?

My face was painted with tears and snot. I felt dry inside, yet I couldn’t stop crying. My childish sobs came out as soft, ghastly whimpers. My lower lip pouted out, as it usually does when I cry. I wanted to call out for my mommy, but that was nearly impossible. I felt so restricted, so stuck.

My body was on fire, I heard all sorts of rattles ringing out from the cold pile of snakes. All sorts of odd hisses and warning noises. I felt so drained and limp. Yet so anxious and heavy.

All I saw was the bright sky, high above me. Beautiful and pure. It felt..free. It felt beckoning. I wanted to be up there, happy and with my doggy. Not down here, bloody, intoxicated, and in excruciating pain as snakes slid across my forehead and body.

I wanted to extend my arm to the sky. I could have sworn I did extend my arm. It felt much lighter. But my vision kept fading and blurring in and out. I knew my arm was still restricted and cold.

A few more minutes, or possibly hours, had passed before my symptoms had worsened. And along came intense pain. Before I felt myself completely fade.

Just, _gone._

 

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~

 

_Travelling… it feels like I’m travelling...quickly…_

_It feels like I’m in my mind. All I see is..a dimly lit tunnel. Electric shocks keep travelling down the tunnel, in bright waves along the walls._

_The tunnel seems to be turning and swirling. It was almost peaceful. I felt much lighter._

But my body increasingly grew heavier. The serenity quickly began to fade away as the tunnel did.

I began to hear voices that were sharp and demanding. A little like my mommy. My body became heavier than before and the voices continued.

“Resurrection protocol status is seventy-five percent.” A feminine voice said, her voice was a bit foggy. I tried to speak, but felt too tired.

“Injection complete.”

Another voice! Where am I? How come I can hear people?

“Check her blood pressure.” A male voice spoke, his voice seemed clearer. I began to see a faint glow above me; a faint white glow. It wasn’t soft, it was pretty harsh against my… _eyes?_

“Resurrection protocol status is ninety-four percent.” The feminine voice chimed in once again. I began to feel my body after that. My fingertips, my throat, my everything. My chest slowly rose and fell in choppy motions. As if it were starting up all over again. My breathing hitched as I felt a sharp pain in my right arm. Yet, I never opened my eyes. I couldn’t tell if it were out of fear, or I physically couldn’t.

“Extraction complete; aid complete.” A deeper male voice joined in the switching conversation that seemed like another entire language to me.

“Resurrection protocol complete, revived.” The same woman finished.

I felt my mouth open as I quickly drew in breaths. My eyes flew open as began panicking. I tried to sit up, but was restrained to a table for some odd reason. Was this a game? Wasn’t I supposed to be dead? Did they want to play a game? I wanted to play a game. I’m not tired anymore.

“Female subject has awoken my mistress.” The lighter voiced man spoke, but to who?

I scanned the room around me and saw all sorts of technical stuff. What do you call it? I’m not sure, mommy never told me. She always said: “ _you’ll learn new words later_ ”. But I didn’t want to later. I was ready now.

The light above me hurt my eyes, so I squinted.

“Am I dead?” I bluntly asked, in a hushed tone. My voice didn’t burn when I spoke, but I felt the need to speak like this.

I heard someone snort, was it at me? Why would they snort at me? Daddy said death was a serious event. Then again, he would sometimes threat mommy. That confused me.

I wiggled my toes. My shoes, they weren’t on. Why weren’t they on?

**Actually, I think I’m naked.**

“Specimen is aware of surroundings.” A female voice said. I couldn’t see any of them, they backed away from me as soon as I had opened my eyes.

Except for one woman, who wore a funny mask around her mouth. Her hair was kept in a hair cap, and she wore a female black scrub top. She appeared perfectly normal. Only if I hadn’t seen her beady second pair of eyes close right beneath her normal pair when I had looked at her, which made me gasp.

“You can’t look at me! I’m naked!” I whined, “Can I have my clothes back? Who took them?”

“Prepare her to be bestowed!” The deeper voiced male shouted, as a command.

Then there was shuffling all around the room as people rushed about. Suddenly the table I rested on was moved. They were pulling it out of the room and into the corridor.

They continued to roll the table, until I was in an entirely new room. My restraints were loosened and two females yanked my arms out.

“How am I alive?” I began to question one of the women but neither answered. They both just snorted at me again and kept their composure.

I noticed a large circular pool in front of me. There were jagged rocks surrounding it, and crystals that glowed. Not to mention, a small waterfall at the back, with plenty more glowing crystals. “Cleansing process beginning.” One spoke and the other grunted in response.

Wait were they going to bathe me?

**No, they wouldn’t. Not without mommy...**


	6. Crystal in the water

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> An unusual yet calming "bath", along with seeing a new side to Delta. A side that should be left alone.

_**The times my mother did bathe me, she never did anything special.** _

No singing, no toys, nothing. Just simple bath time. She sometimes forgot to bathe me, and daddy would yell at her for it. She always had increasingly difficult mood swings. She would be happy and energetic one day, then sad and lonely the next. It was hard to handle, because she was so...crazy. It was even more difficult for my father to sort through and discuss with her. She never thought much of her mood swings, but we saw it.

But I was always happy to have Bartholomew. He was great at making me feel better, and even better with making me laugh. Bartholomew is just one big, fluffy, goofball. One day, daddy talked about what Bartholomew could do. He said Bartholomew was created to hunt, that Bartholomew could take down coyotes. Is that why we got him? Or was it so he could comfort me?

Either way, I knew he wasn’t here now. But I wish mommy was here to bathe me instead of these women.

The room was cold, I shivered in my nude state as they dragged me to the beautiful pond. They dropped me inside, and luckily it wasn’t deep at the base of the pond. The waterfall sounded light, it wasn’t too loud or harsh. But it didn’t comfort me.

“ _Please_ , why can’t I go home?” I pleaded with the two women as they stepped inside the pond with me. I noticed there were blue lotus flowers near the waterfall, just lightly floating about. Aside from their beauty, I wondered how it was possible to grow them here.

I noticed one of them staring at me for a while. She had short, platinum blonde hair, that curled up to the tip top of her ear. And indeed, it was very curly. The same tattoo of a blazing sun was burned onto her forehead too. I pondered on whether or not she had four eyes as well, but the thought evaporated when I saw her reach for a chunk of crystals. She ripped the off and dipped them into the water, slowly bringing them back up. When she did, it looked like an unusual, jagged, multicolored sponge.

To me, it was very pretty; and without thinking, I reached for it.

Her face instantly grew offended, she slapped my hand angrily away and I whimpered.

The other woman, who was now behind me, scoffed.

 **I was very uncomfortable**.

 They weren't naked or anything of the matter, before we got in, they changed into odd “swimsuits”. They wore violet colored one piece swimsuits, that had attached violet leggings and long sleeves. The end of the sleeves were droopy as well, was it to be some new fashion? While they changed, I was gaping at the waterfall. But, when I finally looked back towards them as they finished, I was taken aback by how tall they were. It was ominous. Now we`re here, and the water is cold.

I looked over to the waterfall anxiously, then back to the large door which I entered from. I needed to leave, this wasn't’ fun. It never was. I was right beside the edge of the large circular pond, so I reached to quickly get out, pushing myself up.

I failed to.

They both hissed and grabbed me, yanking me aggressively back into the pond and digging their sharp nails into my back. I cried out in pain and fell under the water. When I resurfaced, they had neutral faces. The other woman had blackish-brown hair that sharply cut off at her jaw. She had the same burned on tattoo as the other.

They looked pretty similar…

The platinum haired woman pressed the odd, pretty sponge against me and I shivered. It wasn’t rough or hard against me. It instantly became a glowing liquid against me and dripped down my shoulder with a few suds and bubbles. The more of the jagged rock she pressed against me, the more that became liquid and poured all over my frail and tiny body.

The other woman pressed her jagged crystal against my back and I watched them both. Soon, I was covered in glowing liquids. It was...beautiful. They picked up their own pitchers and began to pour water over me. Which helped to clear the liquid off. I was honestly sad to see such a pretty treasure leave me. It turned the water into sweet colors as it left me. Blue, pastel pink, royal purple. The water became illuminated as more of the treasure dripped off me and into the water. It was incredible; it was an experience. I just wanted to swim in it, if only I knew how. Under this deep, mysterious, illuminated water.

Once I was completely “clean”, the platinum haired woman kindly put her hand on my shoulder. She didn’t smile or show any emotion, but I thought I felt such kindness in the way she placed her hand. Almost like how mommy used to love me.

**But I was wrong.**

She violently shoved my body under the water and I screamed out of childish panic. She held me down and I thrashed under her. The blackish-brown haired woman helped with holding me under, to reduce my thrashing. I wanted to scream. I wanted to scream to daddy for help. To anyone for help. But instead I took in a large amount of water into my lungs.

It hurt, and I choked up in the water. My legs felt weak and my arms burned, so my panic attack slowed.

They kept me like this for another forty seconds or more. It really felt like more. I thought I might have passed out. My eyelids were sore, along with my legs.

When they brought me back over the surface, their neutral expressions remained, as they continued to “clean” me up. I choked and spat out more of the unusual water, as I shot them glares. Was my life a game to them? What was the purpose of that?

“That hurt! It is not funny!” I shouted at them, but they completely ignored me. Why have they not spoken? Not even once? I continued to choke and sputter, as the blackish-brown haired one slapped my back and I felt a little better.

The waterfall calmed me down from the crazy incident that had just occurred. Yet, I don’t completely understand this place, or why I am here. I’m terrified! Perhaps it’s some sort of camp mommy set up for me? But daddy said no camps until I was older! Am I safe now?

_I...I don’t understand._

“Can I call my mommy? Please?”

Neither responded. They seemed so focused on their task. So determined. What was so important about _me_ _?_

They both abruptly grabbed my arms, one took each arm, and practically threw me out of the pond. I skidded on the smooth, cold floor, and shivered. I sat up and looked back at the two women. It appeared they were getting out of the pond as well. They stood tall as they marched over to me; and once again, grabbed both of my arms. Which pulled me off my feet.

“Wait a minute! Wait, where are you taking me?!” I began to hyperventilate as they said nothing in turn.

All my fears quickly resurfaced along with my anxiety going haywire. The door opened automatically, and we were once again in a long and large hall. The two women looked at each other, and nodded. I’m not sure if I’m completely right, but it seemed that they were very nervous as they down the empty hall. They seemed timid.

We went through many twists and turns, passing many huge and unusually marked doors. They seemed to know this place by heart.

Finally, we reached an incredibly tall and alarming door. It felt different than all the rest. It felt..hopeless?

It quickly opened, almost in a flash. Cold air drifted out of it. It was pitch black inside, and I did not like it one bit. I shook my head in worry and tried to yank myself away, but didn’t budge.

“I don’t want to go in there, it’s scary.” I whimpered and shook my head again.

They began to walk inside, taking me with them. It was indeed cold in here, sending shivers down my bare spine. I tried to look around for anything, something that could help me escape, but saw nothing. I was stuck in here with these two women.

I closed my eyes and sighed in despair. But then, a few lights began to brighten. A few lights built into the bottom corners of the room, that let a amethyst purple . It mapped out the entire room, and I began to realize just how gigantic this room was. They appeared to be LED strip lights, but they were so.. _fancy?_ So... _official._

Like they were practically from the future. Then more LED strip lights lit up the top corners of the room, giving off the same purple glow.

A large, _beautiful_ , glimmering, chandelier hung down. It was so calming, and radiant, it must have costed a fortune. It had me awestruck, and you could tell by the way I was openly gaping at it. I just have never seen anything so brilliant. It made me feel unusual on the inside, almost jealous.

“ **Do you like it?** ”

My eyes shifted from the chandelier to a tall, unnerving woman sitting quaintly towards the back of the room on some sort of odd throne.

Oh! Mommy taught me about knights and thrones when it was my birthday!

But this woman, I knew she didn’t deserve a throne. I recognized her almost immediately.

**Delta.**

She grinned a sick grin and raised her eyebrows, “ **Surprise~** ”

The two women began to take me closer to her and I shook my head no aggressively, struggling against their grasp. They continued their stroll until we were closer to Delta, too close. I hated it.

“No..” I whispered and frowned.

She cleared her throat. She raised her hand and pointed to the wonderful chandelier, “ **That is a fiber optic chandelier. It certainly is one of my gems.** ” She slowly nodded.

I looked back up at the huge work of art and nodded as well, it was a very large chandelier. I turned my gaze to her, and she stared me right in the eyes.

“I want to go home.” My voice cracked as I said it and I continued to stare at her.

“ **This is home, Aoki.** ” She still had that almost robotic grin that I began to hate. She abducted me and killed my father, I believe, I couldn’t be happy here. I was still grieving inside, I couldn’t understand any of this.

“No, it’s not. I want my mommy! I want my, what was it called? My _freedom!_ ” I began to raise my voice at her. Her face immediately went from that grin, to a hateful frown.

“ **Freedom? Is that what you called you life before you came here?** ” She furrowed her brows and leaned closer, looming over me. “ **Aoki Juno, you just don’t know what freedom is.** ”

“I do! I do!” I whined and wiped my eyes that were welling with tears. I am always such a crybaby; that's what daddy calls me anyway.

Delta shook her head and huffed, her raven black hair drifting over her shoulders, which was somehow pretty. Her cheekbones were rosy and placed perfectly, it irked me.

“ **You really don’t understand. You’re mine now, what you do and say reflects onto me. And I absolutely cannot have you walking around with the attitude you currently have.** ” She gestured towards me, which made me remember I am still nude. When will I receive clothes?

“What..what do you mean? There’s nothing wrong with me!” I sputtered out.

“ **Aoki! Everything is wrong with you!** ” She shouted at me, slightly losing her composure. But just as before, she quickly regained it.

“B-but I..” My voice had trailed off, but it didn’t matter, she cut me off. “ **Oh! And that stuttering!** ” she placed a hand over her eyes and sighed, “ **This will possibly take longer than expected.** ”

“ _Mistress?_ ” The two women beside me spoke up at the same time, making me jump. I rubbed my brimming tears away and sighed.

Delta put a hand up to silence the women, they immediately shut up.

“ **Listen up Aoki, and hear me now. You need to forget the _sporadic_ life you used to have. Move on, this is now your forever residence. If you think I will stand for anymore excuses from you, think again. Because I will certainly not grieve for you!** ” She sat back, relaxed again and crossed her legs.

“Please, I want mommy! I want Bartholomew, I want daddy... _poor daddy!_ ” I sobbed out loud uncontrollably and beat my head harshly with my palms.

I heard a low growl rumble in Delta’s throat before she pointed at me, “ **Remove her.”**

They hurried to drag me off to my room without hesitation, no exceptions.

**Back to my bed, back to my toilet, back to my fear.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so excited for what's to come. I wanted to thank you all for reading so far~! I hope you are enjoying it!


	7. Reflective Scissors

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Do you ever think about who you used to be? What you've done, and what will happen in the future? Aoki does, a lot. But who could blame her?

_**I never dreamed that night, my mind was just empty.** _

Wandering, but with no thoughts. My mind felt empty. I don’t know this feeling, yet I’ve seen mommy go through it before, a lot of times.

Since I was too scared and was up for hours, weakly punching the door, I barely slept. So they gave me more shots in a separate room that forced me into sleep.

My last view were the three frightening deep red glowing LED stripes on the door. I was scared that they could turn green at any given moment. That they could burst in and take me away at any moment. I didn’t want to die again, I didn’t want to feel pain again. What would happen next? Would I see the snakes again? I don’t want to!

I still remember the pain. It’s this unusual, knowing pain. A type of pain that lets you know you’re dying, one that prepares you...and doesn’t at the same time. I can tell it’s different from any gunshot or hanging. Yet, I’ve never felt those.

When I had awoken, my door was still closed. Still red and closed. I sat up and stumbled over to the toilet, quickly using it out of caution, and running back to my bed after washing my hands.

Washing my hands was unusual. There was a small square space in the wall that would release a small amount of water from the top of the space if I put my hands in it. There was a drain at the bottom of the space. Somehow the square space was built according to my height.

I tried to drink it, but quickly spat it out, discovering that soap was mixed with it. I had to find out the hard way. Why!

After that, the door stayed red for another day and I sat in my bed, occasionally using the bathroom and sleeping. But I mainly stared at it, scared of what's to come.

My stomach growled loudly as I shifted under the covers, waiting for what's to come. Waiting for what seems so near, yet so out of reach.

And what I believe is my answer came immediately after the thought. The stripes turned green and the door opened from the bottom up. The same women entered and I quickly got out of my bed, for some reason, preparing to fight.

_But I know I am weak, so I was shocked anyway._

I screamed, straining my vocal chords and was unwillingly dragged to a different room. They tossed me in here and I trembled. I didn’t have my blanket to cover up my naked body so I stood in the center of the room, shivering. The room was colder than any of the other rooms I had been in, besides Delta’s.

The room was dimly lit, so I looked upwards to see an extraordinary chandelier, similar to Delta’s, but not nearly as large or beautiful. It was...it was...what did Delta call it? Oh! Fiber optic! It glowed a sweet yet soft pink. I continued to stare at it, zoning out and breathing slowly. I was quickly snapped out of my thoughts when someone spoke.

“Welcome.” A voice chimed.

“Hello?” I called out and squinted, looking around me, while wrinkling my nose. The rooms walls turned to glowing panels, displaying dozens upon dozens of outfits, from the floor to the ceiling. They all contained the same colors: blue and white. There were dresses, skirts, shirts, blouses, pants, belts, pencil skirts, hoodies, and much more.

“Hello!” I called out again, but received no reply.

The screens continued to display the outfits, with information on the size, material, and more, beside them. They shuffled through in a hurry, red X’s planted themselves over outfits, and the outfits would disappear.

I spun around, looking at the walls of panels. More X’s appeared over outfits that seemed like they were either too large for me, or not ready yet. I grew dizzy from spinning to examine all the panels and focused on one wall.

Eventually, one outfit was left on the wall. A jumpsuit, about my size, at least I guessed it was. It had shorts instead of pants, and a black belt to go along with it. The top was a sleeveless turtleneck, with thin blue line at the neck and the same lines at the sleeveless shoulders. There was an upside down crescent on the chest, which was the same shade of blue as the other lines. Apart from the outfit, there were black panties, which oddly made me uncomfortable. Then there were cinnamon brown combat boots at the bottom. The color of the boots matched my hair.

It was the only outfit on screen, and I guessed that it was going to be what I had to wear. The chandelier brightened, allowing me to see the entire room. The room wasn’t all that big, and is not nearly as large as the other rooms I had been tossed into.

Suddenly, eight robotic arms came down from above me. They appeared to move so freely and hypnotically, it creeped me out. One held the jumpsuit, one held the belt, one held the pair of combat boots, and one held the panties, while the other four arms were empty.

Two arms came down with the panties, holding them for me to step into. I hesitated, but eventually stepped into them, for the longer I waited, the longer _they_ waited.

Two of the arms yanked my arms over my head and two others quickly threw the jumpsuit onto me. The neck of the turtleneck widened, fitting my body inside, as my little legs wiggled through the attached shorts. The turtleneck tightened around my neck once I had it fully on. It somehow fit perfectly on me, almost as if it were custom made. _Prepared_ for my arrival.

Two other arms looped the belt through the vacant holes on my waist, tightening it nearly too tight.

Finally, the two arms lifted me off my feet, and I helplessly allowed them to put my shoes on. They didn’t tie them, they just dropped me instead. I landed on my butt and groaned, rubbing my hind and sighing as I tried my best to tie them. But I didn’t know how, nobody ever taught me, so I did what I saw daddy do.

The robotic arms went back up, through small holes in the ceiling. The holes snapped shut, just like the door to my experiment chamber.

The chandelier remained bright as I looked at my new outfit. I was especially glad I was not naked anymore. Though, it seemed weird to not have a sweater, or any sleeves for that matter. I brushed myself off and stood up, slightly wiggling for no exact reason.

I heard footsteps to my right and nearly jumped out of my skin. I looked over to see a man walking towards me from the door I was tossed from. He had messy long hickory brown hair that reached to his earlobe, and a thick beard.

He made his way over to me, standing a few feet away. He lifted his hand, and a silver pair of scissors fell into his hand. Confused, I looked up to where the scissors fell from. I saw a robotic arm slip up into its hole before disappearing. He raised his other hand, and comb fell. Who was he?

I backed away cautiously and eyed him.

“Who are you?” I sheepishly growled. I was scared of him and I didn’t know why. Actually, I was terrified of this entire place and everyone who roamed here.

He never broke eye contact as he reached for my shoulder and I backed away again.

“Please don’t touch me.” I whispered to him. Why was I whispering? I have no idea. I sometimes did it when I was scared to talk to others outside of my home, or just to daddy. But this was different…?

The stranger didn’t speak. He eventually caught a hold of me and forced me to sit down. I was shaking like a leaf, I did **not** trust him with those scissors.

I remained quiet, even though I could not see him, for he was behind me. I felt him take a hold of a few strands of my hair and began to snip away.

I yelped and lunged forward, turning around to look at him with fear in my eyes like a deer in the middle of the road.

“What are you doing? Why are you cutting my hair!” I whimpered and began to tear up, I liked my hair as it is. I don’t need a haircut! I pushed my hair over my shoulder and held onto it tightly, watching him carefully. I tried my best not to cry, but the tears were already flowing. I sniffled, like the crybaby I am.

“Don’t cut it mister, _please._ ” I begged.

But he didn’t care about my pleas, because he slowly slid out an nine inch long rod, it looked just like the staffs the other women used to shock me; only shorter. It glowed on the handle and sparked at random, just like the others.

I shook my head and held out my hands as a pointless way to protect me. He pointed to the floor aggressively and frowned, furrowing his brows.

I crawled over and let out an ugly sob, sniffling the snot away and sitting patiently.

I heard him grumble and resumed cutting my hair once again. My head became lighter the more he cut, and I felt the soft tickle of my hair sliding past my neck. As more hair fell, the more I began to feel the old me slipping away.

I began to feel some of me slip away.

He brushed the comb through my hair a few more times as he finished up, and I shivered.

I heard metal clanking, and wanted to turn around, but couldn’t bring myself to. I felt paralyzed...like when you wake up facing the wall in the middle of the night, and don’t want to turn your back; fearing there is a monster there.

I felt his fingertips brush over my neck, pulling the turtleneck down, as something cold was pressed to my bare neck.

_Then I felt it dig into my skin._

It was painful, like getting a shot. There was a loud noise that sounded like a gun cocking, and the pain intensified. I yelped and slapped my hand over my neck, and heard him quickly pull whatever he had away as I groaned in pain. There was nothing there, it was as smooth as before he had touched it.

“Tracker inputted.” He murmured, his voice was deep yet gentle.

Tracker? Why would they put a tracker in me? I’m not an animal! Why would they need to do that?

I heard him stand up, and I turned to face him; standing up as well.

I frowned and shook my head, feeling how light it was, my lip trembling. My eyes were puffy and my nose was a light shade of red.

My hair was now an inch below my jaw, slightly curling at the ends. I looked the man in the eye and whispered, “Why would you do that?”

He sighed and turned to leave the room, leaving the scissors and comb on the floor, along with my scattered hair, making me choke up a bit. The robotic arms came down, picked both up, and went back up to wherever they go in the high ceiling.

“Wait! Help me escape! Take me back to my mommy, please.” I begged the stranger as I reached for his arm, grasping it.

My stomach loudly growled, making me look down at it. I realized I hadn’t eaten since I was taken away from mommy and daddy. I was very hungry, and all I wanted then was chicken tenders mommy made when she was happy and energetic.

If only I hadn’t gotten distracted, I would have seen him pull out the rod once again, and uppercut me with it. Pain was sent through my jaw first, then throughout my entire body, forcing me into a fetal position. I grunted and squirmed, feeling dizzy and hopeless. I eventually blacked out.

~

When I had awoken, I was in my room. I was on my bed, laying on my back. I sat up and quickly glanced at the door. The stripes were red, fortunately and unfortunately at the same time.

There was a white LED light outlining the hatch near the door that was a few feet off the ground. I rushed over to find a tray of food waiting for...me? I snatched the tray up and ran back to my bed, getting comfortable, shuffling on my sheets and having my back against the wall.

I stared down at the food, almost questioningly. There was the type of food my mommy would serve me: yogurt, peas, meat, and fruit. Then, there was a pill, and an unusual drink. The pill was small, but the drink was black. It was sitting in its holder in top right of the tray, there was a tiny red glowing dot right beside the base of the glass.

Once I finished my food, I picked the glass up hesitantly. The little light turned green, as I pressed the glass to my lips. When I first sip the black liquid, I have to stop myself from vomiting. It tasted very dull, almost like rotten egg yoke. I stared at the glass, deciding on whether or not I was supposed to drink it. Was I meant to?

The dot on the tray was red once again.

I took another disgusting sip and waited. The longer the drink stayed in my mouth, the better tasted.

_So, the dull taste is like an aftertaste, beforehand? But why?_

I continued to take careful sips from the glass, there was a lot of it as well. Not the average amount of anything should be drunk this much in one sitting, except maybe water?

I finished it, shaking my head in both amazement and disgust.

“Ew.” I mumbled to myself.

The dot on the tray remained green as I put the glass back in its spot. I went back to the hatch and put my food inside, running as quick as possible there and back.

About what feels like forever later, the stripes on my door turned green, and the women came in with their staffs.

I held up my hands, “I won’t fight back, please trust me!” My tiny voice whined. But they shocked me anyways with their typical statement ‘commencing controlled shock’, but why? What did I ever do to get shocked in this situation?

_I don’t get it!_

I felt saliva drip from my mouth as they dragged me out from the room, down a long and cold hall. We eventually arrived at a door I was familiar with. A door I knew from any other.

**My experimentation door.**

The deafening noise blared throughout the halls, and the door opened from multiple directions, like last time.

The two women turned to me, and jabbed both of their spears at me, right on my stomach. I screamed in shock as they grabbed my waist, and dragged me inside, before returning to the entrance.

I stood up and wiped my tears away, making my face wet. The pain slowly faded. I looked around the pitch black chamber and squinted for any source of light. There was none. My legs felt like they could give out at any moment.

“LET ME Out… _please._ ” My scream melted into tiny sobs mid sentence, making me sound more pathetic than I already felt.

The room slowly began to brighten as a voice spoke up, the same voice from my last experiment! Maybe she would show some sympathy this time?

“Beginning experiment M. Controlled shock sequence has been enabled.”

Fear dropped in my stomach, I knew what would happen next.

“Your only objective, Aoki, is to survive and if possible, save any passengers. But mainly get out.”

“No! No! No! No! No! No! I don’t want to do this ag-” I was cut off, the shock spiraled through my body and every inch of me as I collapsed to the ground. The room once again was near blinding, so I closed my eyes. I just wanted to sleep on this floor. Sleep away this nightmare.

When I opened my eyes, I was in a seat. More specifically, I was in the backseat of a car. The seats were caramel brown, and leather. There were two people in the front seat, a man with layered messy black hair, driving the car and a woman with long blonde hair in the passenger's seat. I was alone in the backseat, and completely lost here.

I looked out the window, I was fixated in a car seat. I couldn’t quite see outside, there was rain pounding hard. All I could see was the white lights from the car behind us, and the red lights from the car in front of us.

“Look at those megaships hun, didja see them?” The woman spoke and pointed to the left of the windshield, “I know it’s hard to see cause of the rain.”

“I did, the rain isn’t that bad. But that canal has to be deep to be harboring megaships!” The man spoke up.

“Who are you? Where am I?” I leaned forward and tried to look at their faces, but couldn’t see them.

“Oh! How are you holding up back there, sweetie?” The blonde said in a sweet, soft voice. “Who are you?” I became worried slowly, where am I? Why am I in a car? Am I back home, in the real world? With freedom?

The woman didn’t answer my question, instead she just laughed and adjusted the volume on the radio.

_What is going on?_

“Ah! Dammit, a tailgater.” The driver gripped the wheel tighter. “In this weather?” The woman sounded frustrated, “I hope they know about the sharp turn up ahead.” She sighed.

“It’s getting closer, he won’t back off.” The man hissed and honked a few times, “Let's hope for the best.”

“Hun, I don’t think you got this.” The woman sounded distressed, “Hun, it’s too close.”

“I want to slow down but he won’t let us!”

“Hun! No! You don’t! You can’t!” The woman began to shout, placing her hands on the dashboard.

“Just wai-” He was cut off by our tailgater rear ending us, slamming us right into the canal at the sharp turn. The man let out a noise that sounded like a mixture of a petrified groan and a shrill scream , while the woman screamed as well. I however, shrieked my head off in the backseat, as we were launched into the deep canal.

While the car fell, I for some reason, retract into my thoughts. My breathing quickens, my eyes feel glazed over. I don’t exactly feel here, but I am. The car hits the water and I’m slammed against the seat in front of me. I groan, taken back into reality.

I rubbed my sore nose, panicking along with the adults in the front of the car. They were looking to each other for help, faces painted with terror. I wanted to cry.

**The car was sinking.**

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I hope you all enjoyed this chapter and I'll see you in the next one!


	8. Fond of greed

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Why save valuables when you can save a life? Aoki has to make the choice on who to save, and why. Every decision she makes counts, no matter the outcome.

_**I froze in terror, I wasn’t sure if I was supposed to accept this or get out.** _

The problem was, I didn’t know _how_ to get out. What was I supposed to do? I was never taught this.

That left me with two options that still scared me either way, drown or attempt to get out.

I leaned forward to see what the adults were doing, but couldn’t. My seat belt had me glued to the seat. I continued to panic and yank forward until it finally gave in and loosened up. I removed my seat belt and looked around me, we were already in the water, and the water was filling up the car fast.

“Okay get your seat belt off.” The woman told what I guessed was her husband. Mine was already off, but I still felt sad when she didn’t tell me to take mine off either. Now they were acting like I wasn’t here.

“What do we do?” The man looked to his wife.

She looked out the window and back to her husband, “Lets open the doors.”

I tilted my head and yanked on my handle, pushing against the door hard. We were almost underwater, and the door became increasingly hard to open.

In a flash of panic I screamed at them, “It won’t open!”

The black-haired man grunted, giving up on opening his door, “The pressure is building up.” He huffed out.

I tried to roll down my window, nearly crushing the button by pressing so hard, and it successfully began to move. I nodded my head, watching it, as my heart beat faster than a hummingbirds.

Anxiety pounced around in my chest as I waited for it to go all the way down. My little fingers on my free hand clasped into a fist around the handle, distressed.

Then the water came crashing in from the window when the car was completely submerged in the water. Me, being the forgetful child I was, didn’t hold my breath. A burst of water began to flood in from the window and I nearly choked.

I checked on the front seat to see if they were okay. The woman tried to roll down her window only to find she couldn’t. There was only an inch of the window open, and I began to hyperventilate watching her.

“How much is there left until this car fills up?” The blonde cried out, looking to her husband as he began punching his window. The bottom of his shirt was wet, along with his jeans.

“Forty one seconds!” He shouted, his eyes darting from her and back to his window again.

I felt the anxiety practically popping inside of me, as the water rose over my window, shooting into the car and pushing me to the window behind me.

I choked and tried to spit the disgusting water out, only to take in more. Gripping the seat to my left, I tried to pull myself forward. The water was up to my throat, meaning the front seat was practically underwater.

The jumpsuit actually made it easier to move around. If I were in my sweater, I could have gotten caught.

We reached the bottom of the canal, I held my breath and began to move towards the window before stopping in my tracks when I remembered something.

_“...Survive and if possible, save any passengers. but mainly get out.”_

The voice from earlier, I remembered it.

But my lungs are small, aren’t they? I can’t hold my breath for long.

**I have to decide.**

I looked back towards the front seat. I could only save one. Why couldn’t they save themselves? They’re adults like mommy and daddy. They can’t swim?

I took the blonde’s arm and yanked her back with all my might, letting a bit of breath slip out. I moved towards the window and swam out with ease, given how small I am.

The woman slightly cooperated, pushing herself through the window, and escaping the car.

I looked at the husband who was grabbing CD’s and other possessions frantically. He clutched his throat when he had a handful of what he wanted to take, turning to the closed window in the front seat that was facing us, and banging on it slightly slow. Staring right at me. Not us. But _me._

He tried to stick his fingers through the inch gap in the window, attempting to pull it down. I felt chills up my spine.

My breath was running very short. I began to quickly swim to the top, trying my best to kick my feet, for I am not a experienced swimmer.

My lungs were on fire, I could finally see the surface. The blonde tried to help, but barely. We kicked our feet until we reached the top. My eyes burned, and my lungs feel like they were going to pop. We finally broke through the surface and I gasped for air. The blonde woman glanced back into the water longingly, her wet hair floated on the surface.

It took me a minute to realize what before I freaked out.

“Can’t you save him?” I asked, almost innocently. “Where is he?”

She kept staring down in the water, her wet hair stuck to her cheeks before muttering, “He’s gone.”

_Gone?_

“Where did he go mommy?” I whispered, our heads bobbed on the reflective surface of the water, the rain from earlier had now turned to lighter sprinkling. I held onto her shoulder.

She looked up at me, confused, “Mommy?”

I shook my head, confused as well, “I’m sorry.”

She ignored it and wiped my upper lip, “Your nose is still bleeding, I think it’s broken.” She muttered.

I frowned as the stinging pain came back when she touched it and swatted at her hand, “Augh!”

“So where?” I asked again.

“Huh?”

“Where did he go?”

She looked up to the night sky, clouded by the barely visible parting clouds, dismissing the rain until another day.

“He’s somewhere now. Somewhere, perhaps up there.”

I wrinkled my nose in confusion, which brought more pain, making me grunt again. “Up there?”

She didn’t answer me. I noticed we were close to a nearby platform, so with the remaining strength we had, we made our way to the platform. I must have underestimated the size of the platform, for the wall was _very_  tall and I couldn’t see any way up.

“What is this?” I asked and pressed my palm to the tall wall, kneeing it underwater while still holding onto the blonde.

“Where mega ships load and unload.” She whispered, “What do we do?” She looked to me, as if I actually knew what to do. As if I even knew what this place was. I shrugged, but she kept staring at me.

“Let's scream for help.”

Somehow she didn’t question my reply, because with that we began to scream out watery lungs out. She sometimes flinched at how high pitched my scream was, while I stared up the wall to the platform that was too high to get up to.

“Ay! Shut up!”

We looked to where the voice came from, which was a little to our right. A man wearing a neon orange life jacket and a helmet was bent over the platform, looking down at us.

“What are you doing down there? This is a harbor!” He called down to us.

“My bad, we thought it was a swimming pool.” She rolled her eyes.

~

We eventually got out of the canal before anything else could become dangerous. The blonde lady talked with the police on the phone while I wandered around the harbor.

While standing at the edge of the harbor, staring out to the water down below, I began to feel dizzy. Everything was spinning, but pretty slowly.

I turned back to where the blonde woman stood, she got off the phone and was talking to a few more men in the same eye-sore lifejackets. Her arms were folded as she turned to glance at me, and caught me staring. She showed a soft smile and stared at me.

I stared right back at her.

Everything around me slowly turned bright as I grew dizzier and tried to keep my stare but could not. As it grew brighter, it also grew fuzzier. As if there were heavy tears in my eyes.

I tried to blink away the fuzziness, but was only intensifying. It grew brighter, but I didn’t close my eyes. I couldn’t see the blonde woman anymore. She was fuzz. She was gone.

It was completely white. All around me. I could see a large door open up as the fuzz faded away quickly. It was my experiment door, I could tell. The room stayed bright, but not fuzzy. It was a clear brightness.

I was shaking with fear as two more creatures briskly walked over, grabbing my arms, and dragging me out of there. They were different from the ones that took me out of my room. My "chamber". 

I was taken into a separate room, the room I had awoken in when I died from the snakes. How I was revived, still confuses me a lot.

They tried to remove my clothes which only made me swat at them and hiss in anger. They were armed, and of course, shocked me. Again and again and _again_. I cried and felt like I couldn’t breathe for the first few moments. It was that kind of dry cry, when your mouth was open but nothing came out. Then the tears started flowing as my clothes were stripped from me. I was restricted to a cold table, forced down.

More people showed up in my teary vision. They all peered down at me. I could swear a few of them opened their sharp beady black eyes below their normal pair.

One stepped forward, leaning closer to me and held a strong gaze. “Before we begin this procedure, I would like to clarify that you, Aoki, will be receiving basic education following on what specimen your age should be learning in the schedule we have set for you. You will also be punished from now on if you fail to successfully complete any experiments. Be grateful for us, Aoki Juno. Be grateful for _her_.” The blurry creature with a feminine voice stated before backing out from my vision.

“Proceed.” I heard the same voice say.

“Sedate her?” One of them asked, looking across the table to another creature on the other side.

“Sedate her.” The gender, which I could not identify because of my bad vision at the moment, confirmed.

“Mommy isn’t okay with th-th-this!” I choked on my words as I stuttered over them.

“Is mommy here?” I whimpered, “Can I-Can I hold her h-hand?” I sobbed.

One took out a needle and soon after I was given the shot, I fell asleep.

But the last thing I thought of was why I never asked for that nice blonde lady’s name.

Or was she even _real_ to begin with?

~

I am nine years old now.

All of that happened five years ago. I am still here.

There were so much more “experiments”. So much more deaths. So much more revival, autopsies, bad drinks, creatures, outfits, anger, sadness, confusion.

Not only did they give me basic education in what I was “supposed to learn”, but they changed the way I act. Even I notice that. No slouching, hissing, swatting. Nothing inappropriate, although habits still slip out, and I’m punished for them.

When I asked why I wasn’t taught history, they simply replied with: _“That is a lie”_.

I have never seen or spoke with Delta once. They say the orders she has issued to me, but never tell me where she is, what she’s doing, why she’s even doing all of this.

I think of so much when I’m alone. When I’m grieving. When I know I’m not who I used to be. When I know that I’ve messed up in my experiments, and that the people I accidentally hurt may or may not even be real. What if it’s a lie?

Their punishments...they hurt. I’d rather not speak of them.

But what do _I_ know?

**I know they have so much planned for me.**


	9. Split upon paths

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Many ways to go about things. Many ways to go about emotions. About everything. Split upon lies, paths, encounters, and more. What path will Aoki choose?

_**Our hearts cannot tell us what we want.** _

Not our eyes, ears, words, thoughts, or kneecaps. Nothing.

Because the truth is, we’ll never know what we want. We think we can reach far and find true meaning, only to find that our arm is broken instead. We make wishes, and hopes. We make cherishing thoughts, and love. We can make so much, but what do we want? What is possible beyond our _everything?_

Emotions are strange. An illusion, or a path to our inevitable fates. Not a way of life, a way to tweak our predetermined destinies. Who we are and what we want. The spark of imagination and possibilities in our head, they continuously fuel us. Most of us. All we ever want, lives in our heads. All we can ever do, is physically force them out.

We are all innocent, we are all pure. We just don’t know that, and have different ways of seeing innocence. Why and how it manifests in us. _Mutates_ , into an unclear image.

_An unclear image…_

The words echoed through my head as I sat on my bed, counting.

My rough, cracked lips droned out continuous numbers. I drew in a sharp breath, folding my tight arms even tighter. My back was to the wall, sitting with proper posture, though my legs were criss crossed. Which pushed out second thoughts.

I nibbled on my lip, glancing towards the station in which I was fed from. They had an unusual schedule for feeding me. It made no sense to me whatsoever, and it probably wouldn’t to anyone I tried to tell.

Of course, I was still given the peculiar, black, unpalatable drink as accompaniment to my meal. They changed the glass it was served in with no reasoning. It now came in a dazzling snifter glass.

I closed my eyes again, gripping the thin sheets of my bed with my toes, clenching, and letting go as I counted.

“Twenty two thousand three hundred and forty one…” I whispered softly; ghostly.

I kept in mind that the door directly across and far from my bed, could open at any moment. They monitored me and they knew that I knew it. After a while it became obvious. I deliberately had done some life threatening actions in order to provoke them and see what they would do. And for other reasons.

This simple counting technique wasn’t new at all. I’ve tried it multiple times before. I wanted to see how long the gap is in between my experiments. Between the times they hauled me out from my chamber, down to wherever was requested of them to bring me by Delta.

They noticed my sleeping patterns, how cryptic they could be. Almost as if they were monitoring me, not only with nearly microscopic cameras, but my entire body. Functions and all, breathing patterns, blinking patterns, my heartbeat. It scared me with all honesty.

When they finally got a grip on my adroitness and quickly invaded my chamber and began sedating me after I had done this a few times, hopelessness consumed me and I slept, anxiously waiting as usual for my next experiment. But now, here I am again, pointlessly trying over and over.

I adjusted my white high neck bra that didn’t exactly fit me yet, and felt useless to wear, but was still comfortable to wear. I was still confined down to bras and panties, but at least I wasn’t naked anymore. They stopped that a long while ago.

The experiments felt completely randomized. None of the times when I counted did they make sense. I would reach completely different times before they came and tranquilized me. I never reached my goal of counting up until they came in for an experiment. But when they sedated me, I must have been somehow close.

Luckily I’ve had no sexual encounters with anyone...  _anything_ here, and I clearly don’t plan on it. I have no idea what these creatures are, so I’ve classified them as simply extraterrestrial. Though I’ve encountered pedophiles in my experiments, or what I assume were pedophiles, they never touched me.

“Twenty two thousand three hundred and fifty…” I continued to clench my toes on my sheets.

I was indeed tired, and I knew they would simply put me at rest again, but in the back of my head I had hope. Or what I believed was hope and not disguised ignorance.

I noticed that the voltage of the shocks they forced upon me increased as I aged, and with how I behaved. They were much more attentive to me, or at least I thought they were. I might just be overthinking because of how my parents treated me. My mood hasn’t improved however. My emotions, they change more rapidly now. I can be very energetic for days on end, then suddenly crashing back to reality with sudden overwhelming sadness. It confuses me greatly, and when I mentioned it to one of the authorities that were about to put me to sleep to operate on me, they laughed at me and shook my inquiry off. I swore to myself I would never mention it again.

It seems they greatly admire and reverence Delta. They dedicate themselves to her, constantly praising and telling me to be grateful for her. I don’t see why I have to though. She will _never_ earn my elementary respect.

**The three stripes turned green.**

I gasped and pushed myself harder against the wall, a natural habit whenever this happened, before lunging off the bed.

The adrenaline pumped through me as I watched them rush towards me, expecting my retaliation. I slightly crouched and had my elbows drawn back to my upper waist, my hands open. Their eyes studied my position and marched onward towards me, cautiously. They I had two options, attack them or run for the door. Their electric staves pointed towards me and lit up with occasional small sparks, handles glowing a soft white luminescence.

I decided to go for the door, thrusting myself to the left and skidding to a stop, trying not to slip, or let them get a hold of me. Charging forward, the open door taunted me. I felt a sudden rush of air as one of their staffs nearly made contact with my right leg. My heart sprung at that, and in response I only ran faster. I was experienced at this, at fleeing from their staves. At fleeing from them.

It felt further than before. It seemed so far to sprint to. But finally, I was only a few steps from being out of my chamber and into the minacious halls.

**No.**

The door slammed down and I quickly flinched, the red stripes too close for comfort.

The noise was sickening, my face slammed into the door. A short but loud grunt shot out from me, followed by a series of frail whimpers. My hand grasped the throbbing spot just above my eyebrow, while my other hand clung to my nose. I found myself in the fetal position, groaning, but not crying.

I’ve felt pain like this before, many times. My experiments had done so much to me in the past five years that at only the age of nine, I could associate my pain with past events.

_Yet I still ran into industrial strength doors._

My eyes were pinched shut, only opened occasionally to regard the women closing in on me. I grunted again, attempting to stand, or at least crouch. I fell back onto my butt before attempting to crouch again, unsteady and vexed. My head refused to stop spinning.

For some unknown reason, I wagged my finger at them, irritated.

My hands were pulled from my face, everything was hazy, and only became even hazier as I knew instantly that I was being sedated once again.

~

When I had awoken, I must have been on some heavy sedative drugs, because I had already been drawn from my room and was being taken down a long hall, my legs dragging behind me. Still in my white bra and panties.

I blinked a few times, clearing the fogginess away. The lights lead them in the direction; a destination unknown to me.

But I recognized it, after I was hustled in. The room that decided what I was going to wear. The room that gave me a brief glance into my next experiment.

“Welcome.” I was greeted again by the same voice, I couldn’t tell if it were robotic or human. Even at this point. I never greeted it back anymore.

I was stripped, and my undergarments were replaced with fresh ones. I must have been bathed while unconscious, for they would have bathed me before being dressed like this.

I shivered at the thought.

I sighed and blinked a few more times, intentionally rapidly. Holding out my arms, still cautious, but not as before. It was natural for me to be cautious, no matter the time I spent here. No matter the time I spent anywhere in this entire, prodigious, facility.

My fingers shook from the overwhelming sensation of dread for my next experiment.

_The possibilities of what it could be really are limitless. What would they expect from me? What was their entire goal? Why haven’t I learned it yet, I should have caught on by now but I was still lost. So, so lost._

_It’s a shame._

My typical turtleneck, with the overturned blue moon symbol and blue wee bow on the back of the neck of course, was stretched over my head as I fit into it. I stepped into white pegged pants after, a black belt was already looped through the holes. Pulling them up over my hips, I tightened the belt and wiggled my hips, just so that they were to my false contentment.

A cream colored fur lined parka was selected, and came down from a space in the ceiling, wide enough for it to fit through. A robotic hand held it, and another came along to open it. I put my arms through the long sleeves and buttoned it up, before adjusting the fleecy olympic blue belt on the torso.

My standard, cinnamon brown, combat boots were situated in front of me. The arms never lifted me anymore, I didn’t know if it were because I was too heavy or because I could put the shoes on by myself now. I sat and took my time putting them on, I saw no point in rushing. Tying them in my own style, I finished and stood up. The robotic hands flew back into the holes, and out of my field of vision.

The chandelier remained, and never lost it’s brilliance once in all the years I spent here, I was still astonished by its clarity. I stared at it, zoning out once again with no delay.

I nearly jumped out of my skin when the two women grabbed my forearms and, jerked me towards the door quickly. Their grip was deathly tight, and I yelped in surprise.

I was transferred back to my room, abruptly driven in, falling flat on my stomach. I quickly got back up and turned to see the door shut. I flinched at the echoing noise and scampered to my bed.

~

I didn’t know the time when they came back in, I rebuffed the offer of counting again, and lost track of time by daydreaming. Daydreaming happened to be my direct source for entertainment, and I sure felt compelled to do so.

Before exiting my room, they did something that was newfangled to me. They demanded I held out my arms, and I hesitated to comply. But, as usual if I refused to, they shocked me. A drawn out, traumatic, shock.

My wrists were incarcerated into shackles. But there were no chains, just two long bars that stretched from one thick and heavy cuff on my wrist to the other. The cuffs extended from my wrists to just below my forearm. They were a metallic coin grey, with one, thin, vivid white glowing stripe that wrapped around each cuff.

I queried them, but they ignored me, making me pout.

_This isn’t fair!_

I arrived at my chamber door, the booming noise blared, and they removed my pristine cuffs before instantaneously shocking me right in the stomach. I shrieked, stumbling back into the monstrous room and falling on my back, fidgeting and grunting.

“Beginning experiment CIC 29. Controlled shock sequence has been enabled.”

I felt myself wither on the inside and sighed a leaden sigh.

"Your only goal is to survive in the adequate amount of time we have approved, and make with the materials provided."

The shock came with no pause and lingered throughout me as I clenched my jaw and hissed. I considered crying as every other time, not for their sympathy but for my emotional grounds. Yet I didn’t, I suppressed my tears and kept my eyes shut. There were times in my experiments when I kept my eyes closed for too long, and opened them to reveal a nightmare. This may or may not be the worst part of my experiments when I think about it.

Suddenly, my left cheek grew cold, and only became colder the longer I remained on what I assume is the ground. Yet, I never bothered to open them. But then, my right cheek was met by something smooth and warm. It was slimy, and slid over my cheek persistently.

_Oh the options on what could be looming over me right now. The options._

Just then, whatever had been lapping at my cheek stopped, and whined. A few other whines joined it, then a gravelly bark.

My eyes fluttered open, I didn’t know what to expect, but my heart was pounding with hope that these creatures were what I thought they were. I sat up, huffing and nibbling my lip.

My emerald green eyes met multiple icy columbia blue eyes. They all looked at me expectantly, and sparked with enthusiasm and perseverance. A few let out impatient yaps and sneezed.

I knew what these were, and I felt deeply relieved to see them. But in the back of my mind...I was _terrified._

In the middle of a frigid, threatening, snowy forest, I sat across from frenetic creatures that I have not seen in a remarkably long time. They were not hitched up, and were playing with each other energetically.

**Alaskan huskies.**


End file.
